Abstract
The efficacy of breast self-examination (BSE) is limited by the extent to which women can be taught to perform a frequent and proficient examination. We randomized 783 women from a health maintenance organization into group instruction, individual instruction, individual instruction with a reminder system, or minimal intervention designed to simulate an office encounter where BSE was encouraged but not taught. The percentage of lumps 1 cm and smaller detected in silicone breast models, the number of false-positive detections, the search technique, and the self-reported BSE frequency were measured before and four months after intervention. Multiple tests for comparisons of interventions showed that the interventions containing BSE instruction were comparable in increasing true- and false-positive detection of lumps and in improving search technique, but the minimal intervention resulted in lower scores for all three outcomes (P < .0001). Women in all four intervention groups increased their BSE frequency over the four-month follow-up period, but the greatest improvement in frequency was reported among women receiving reminders.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 208-217 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | American journal of preventive medicine |
Volume | 6 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1990 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health